FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of recyclable material particularly laminate material. The present invention further relates to bags, particularly reusable, recyclable shopping bags and laminate material suitable for construction of said bags and other items.

It will be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention in relation to shopping bags, however it should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to that use only and the bags can be used for carrying myriad items. Furthermore, while the laminate material will be described with reference to its use in bags it will be readily appreciated that the laminate is suitable for many other purposes which are also within the scope of this specification.

BACKGROUND ART

Throughout this specification the use of the word "inventor" in singular form may be taken as reference to one (singular) inventor or more than one (plural) inventor of the present invention. The discussion throughout this specification comes about due to the realisation of the inventor and/or the identification of certain related art problems by the inventor and, moreover, any discussion of documents, devices, acts or knowledge in this specification is included to explain the context of the invention. It should not be taken as an admission that any of the material forms a part of the prior art base or the common general knowledge in the relevant art in Australia or elsewhere on or before the priority date of the disclosure and claims herein.

Over the past few years there has been increasing concern regarding the consumption and disposal of plastic consumer items such as plastic bags and their environmental impact. Despite their adverse effect on the environment, plastic bags and plastic items generally have been very popular with retailers and consumers. Retailers particularly like plastic bags because they are inexpensive to mass produce, relatively easy to transport due to their light weight and ability to fold up to a small size, and because they can be made readily accessible to customers by dispensing off a roll or through an opening in a storage container. Consumers like plastic bags them because they are usually provided free of charge by retailers, they are water resistant, add virtually no weight to the goods they carry.

Many consumers simply use a plastic bag once - to carry goods home from a shop - then discard the bag as trash. Other types of plastic packaging and plastic items generally are also seen as readily disposable and ultimately they are discarded as trash, typically ending up as landfill taking hundreds of years to degrade. But many plastic bags and other plastic items escape this disposal process and end up in gutters, sewers, waterways, or other area where they are extremely detrimental to fauna. In countries such as Singapore where land is at a premium, plastic items such as plastic bags are incinerated, adding to air pollution. In an attempt to overcome this problem some manufacturers have introduced biodegradable or compostable plastic bags made from starches, polyvinylaxyalkonates or poly-lactic acid based polymers. According to ASTM Standard D 5488, American Society of Testing and Materials (1994), biodegradability means that a product is capable of undergoing decomposition into carbon dioxide, methane, water, inorganic compounds, or biomass in which the predominant mechanism is the enzymatic action of microorganisms that can be measured by standardized tests, in a specific period of time, reflecting available disposal conditions. However, biodegradable bags have met with resistance by retailers because they are comparatively expensive to manufacture and are therefore less attractive to provide without charge to customers.

In some countries the government has stepped in to discourage use of non-recyclable plastic bags by imposing taxes and in some areas bans are proposed.

However, retailers have had a great deal of success converting customers to the use of reusable shopping bags, particularly for grocery shopping, even though they lack the convenience of plastic bags. During its lifetime, a reusable bag can substitute for hundreds of plastic bags. The marketing of reusable bags based on an environmental message has been so well received that customers voluntarily bear the cost of purchasing the bags.

Many different types of reusable bags have been proposed in the past. For example, Australian innovation patent AU 2008 100345 describes a reusable shopping bag system comprising a plurality of component shopping bags that can quickly transformed between shopping and storage configurations.

However one of the most simple and popular forms of shopping bag are made from a plain woven textile, particularly lightweight cotton textiles (such as calico or muslin) or heavier cotton textiles such as denim or canvas. These bags are typically of very simple construction, having a rectangular box-shaped body and two simple carrying straps. The textiles used are strong and durable, but easily folded so that the bag can be made into a small compact shape for transport and storage when not in use.

However, these reusable bags are not necessarily easily recycled. In order to provide sufficient strength, the seams and points of attachment for the carrying straps are sewn together using synthetic fibres or yarns made of natural/synthetic fibre combinations. Synthetic fibres are specifically created to improve upon the characteristics present in natural fibres. Hence synthetic fibres having high tensile strength are preferred over natural fibres which typically have much lower tensile strength and will fail in seams and at strap attachment points. However some synthetic fibres are not recyclable or cannot be recycled in combination with natural fibres.

Accordingly, reusable bags are often exported in batches to developing countries to take advantage of low labour costs. In these countries teams of workers unpick the bags to remove and separate the synthetic threads from the textiles before the textile can be input to a recycling process. Recyclable threads are sent to a separate recycling process, or relegated to landfill. The steps of export, followed by unpicking and separation add to the cost of the recycling. Because recycling is not a high profit margin activity, anything that adds to processing costs tends to discourage commercial recycling. SUMMARY OF INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a new reusable recyclable material that is more environmentally and commercially acceptable than materials of the prior art. A further object of the present invention is to provide a reusable, recyclable bag that is more environmentally and commercially acceptable than bags of the prior art.

A further object of the present invention is to alleviate at least one disadvantage associated with the related art. It is an object of the embodiments described herein to overcome or alleviate at least one of the above noted drawbacks of related art recycling systems or to at least provide a useful alternative to related art recycling systems.

In a first aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a fully biodegradable laminate material comprising natural materials that need no separation prior to recycling.

Preferably the laminate material comprises at least two layers of different natural materials. The layers may be combined by any convenient means including adhesion using a bonding agent. The laminate may be used to manufacture part or all of any convenient consumer item. For example the laminate may be used to manufacture part or all of a carry bag.

In a second aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a reusable bag comprising a bag body and at least one integral holding means having laminate reinforcement, wherein the entire reusable bag comprises natural materials that need no separation prior to recycling.

Preferably the natural material is chosen from the group comprising materials derived from plants, animals, insects or combinations thereof. For example, plant derived materials can include fibres such as kenaf, ramie, abaca, jute, flax, sisal, hemp, cotton, soybean and bamboo, or other plant derived materials such as paper. Animal derived materials can include for example, fibres such as mohair, wool camel, alpaca, llama, angora, cashmere and yak. Insect derived materials can include for example, fibres such as silk.

In yet a further aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a reusable bag comprising,

• a bag body and at least one integral holding means having laminate reinforcement,

• the bag body and integral holding means comprising a natural fibre chosen from the group comprising plant, animal or insect fibres, • the laminate reinforcement comprising a naturally derived sheet material, wherein said natural fibre and naturally derived sheet material need no separation prior to recycling.

Preferably the naturally derived sheet material forming a layer of the laminate is a paper derived from a cellulosic pulp such as hemp, flax, bamboo, wood or from recycled materials such as rags. These naturally derived sheet materials act sufficiently as reinforcement to reduce wear and tear on the reusable bag.

The reusable bag may additionally require threads for closure of seams or to make the holding means integral with the bag body. In this case, the threads comprise a natural fibre chosen from the group comprising plant, animal or insect fibres. It is important that the threads, like the rest of the components of the reusable bag do not require separation prior to recycling. Alternatively, the seams may be closed using a method other than sewing, such as heat or laser sealing or gluing. Preferably any glue or adhesive used is biodegradable. It is important that whatever closure means is used, it does not interfere with the ability to subject the entire reusable bag to recycling without the need for an extra step to separate one or more components.

Typically the natural materials comprising the reusable bag are both recyclable and biodegradable. Accordingly, if the bag is not recycled, it will readily decompose. The integral holding means may be of simple construction such as, a pair of slits cut in the bag body that can receive a user's hand. Alternatively the integral holding means could include, for example, handles that are sewn or otherwise affixed to the bag body to form an integral unit. In a further aspect of embodiments described herein, the reusable bag of the present invention is configured such that individual bags can be readily dispensed from a bulk collection of bags. Preferably the reusable bag is conformed such that it can be dispensed through a slot in a bulk holding container. This could be achieved for example, by having a bag that have an integral holding means that are of lesser length than the width of the bag body. Furthermore, it may be advantageous for the reusable bag to be able to be folded down its length.

In a further aspect of the embodiment of the present invention there is provided a process for recycling a laminate material according to the present invention comprising the steps of shredding the laminate, blending the shredded material with other selected fibres, carding the blended fibre mixture. The recycling process may further comprise the steps of spinning the blended fibre mixture or compressing the blended fibre mixture. The spun blended fibre can be used for weaving, knitting or other textile production techniques. Compressed fibres can be used for a variety of purposes including mattress production. Alternatively the bags can be shredded to make filling material for recycling applications such as car insulation, roofing felts, loudspeaker cones, panel linings and furniture padding.

Other aspects and preferred forms are disclosed in the specification and/or defined in the appended claims, forming a part of the description of the invention. In essence, embodiments of the present invention stem from the realization that the correct combination and conformation of natural materials can provide a reusable bag that is fully recyclable yet maintains the most advantageous characteristics of plastic bags. Advantages provided by the present invention comprise the following:

• full recyclability without the need to employ the step of separating particular components, • optional full biodegradability thus minimising environmental impact if not recycled,

• the bags comprising the laminate can be conformed for dispensing individual reusable bags from bulk storage, • inexpensive.

Further scope of applicability of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the disclosure herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further disclosure, objects, advantages and aspects of preferred and other embodiments of the present application may be better understood by those skilled in the relevant art by reference to the following description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the disclosure herein, and in which: • Figure 1 is a perspective view of a reusable bag according to one embodiment of the present invention;

• Figure 2 is a front view of the reusable bag of Figure 1 ; and

• Figure 3 is a side view of the reusable bag of Figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 depicts a reusable bag according to one embodiment of the present invention comprising a bag body (1) that is suitable for receiving and supporting goods such as groceries. The bag body (1) includes two integral holding means in the form of handles (3a, 3b). The bag body (1) and handles (3a, 3b) are made of calico. The inner surface of each of the handles has reinforcement (5a, 5b) comprising unbleached paper which is adhered to the calico using a starch based glue to form a laminate. The edges (7) of the handles and bag body are sewn with cotton yarn, and given extra strength by the addition of calico binding. The areas of the handles that are typically contacted by a user's hand are further strengthened by strips of calico (9a, 9b). These may be made integral with the handles (for example, by gluing). Thus the entire bag is made of cotton fibre and paper which are natural materials that do not require separation prior to recycling. Furthermore, in this embodiment the natural materials comprising the reusable bag are also biodegradable so that if the bag is not recycled, its effect on the environment will be minimised. While calico has been used in this embodiment of the reusable bag other natural plant materials could be substituted such kenaf, ramie, abaca, jute, flax, sisal, hemp, cotton, soybean and bamboo, or paper or insect derived material such as silk. Alternatively, or in addition animal derived materials could be used such as mohair, wool camel, alpaca, llama, angora, cashmere and yak provided that the components of the reusable bag can be combined for recycling and there is no need for a step to separate individual components.

Figure 2 is a front view of the reusable bag of Figure 1 showing the calico bag body (1), one of the two handles (3a), the calico bound edges (7), one of the calico handle strips (9a). The paper laminate reinforcement (5a, 5b) on the inner surface of each of the handles cannot be seen in this view.

Figure 3 is a side view of the reusable bag of Figure 1 showing the calico bag body (1), the two handles (3a, 3b) and calico bound edges (7). The paper laminate reinforcement (5a, 5b) on the inner surface of each of the handles, and the calico handle strips (9a, 9b) cannot be seen in this view. In an alternative embodiment, the same bag conformation as depicted in

Figures 1 to 3 can be used, with the bag body and handles comprising unbleached paper, while the reinforcement comprises calico.

One of the advantages of constructing the reusable bag of materials such as calico and paper is that the material is relatively soft and relatively easy to fold. For example, the bag of Figures 1 to 3 when manufactured of paper and calico can be folded along its centre line AA' (Figure 2) and collapsed along its side seams (BB ¹ B") to become flat and elongate in form. In this configuration individual bags can be bulk packed in a container and individually dispensed through a slot or other conveniently shaped opening in the container. The bags would then be readily accessible to consumers during their shopping in a supermarket or the like. While this invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification(s). This application is intended to cover any variations uses or adaptations of the invention following in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of the essential characteristics of the invention, it should be understood that the above described embodiments are not to limit the present invention unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative only and not restrictive.

Various modifications and equivalent arrangements are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the invention and appended claims. Therefore, the specific embodiments are to be understood to be illustrative of the many ways in which the principles of the present invention may be practiced. In the following claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover structures as performing the defined function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures.

"Comprises/comprising" when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof." Thus, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words 'comprise', 'comprising', and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of "including, but not limited to".